part0005

Before we begin our study of music theory and musical notation, let’s define music itself. We know, of course, that music is made up of sounds. And we also know that these sounds are not usually generated at random but organized in some specific way to achieve some specific musical effect. So music is organized sound.

However, a good definition must not neglect the function of music. When a text was sung by the choirs of the church of ancient times, or a libretto was set to music for an opera of the Italian Renaissance, or a composer wrote a 30 second jingle for a TV advert, music served a specific function. In other words, there is intention behind composing. So I hope that we can agree that one possible definition is that music is sound organized for a purpose .

This is exactly what this book is about. We will see why and how musical sounds are organized and how these same sounds are notated and represented visually.

Although nowadays we are used to the idea that music is written down on paper (or presented on a screen), notation didn’t appear all of sudden as a complete system. On the contrary, it has a long history of development spanning several centuries.

Before the invention of notation, music was either improvised or painstakingly learned over many repetitions imitating a master. In fact, this is how medieval monks learned and then sang the church hymns at religious ceremonies. Considering the vast number of hymns that had to be sung, however, it took a significantly long time to learn them all. And accounting for human error and interpretation, there was no guarantee that a student would remember the tune exactly as it was taught to him thus making the process longer.

The first step toward a system of musical notation occurred in the 7th century when Pope Gregory the Great ordered the codification of Christian hymns so that all of Europe could sing from the same hymnbook. The result was the first kind of music notation—a primitive set of signs and symbols known as neums . Neums were used to indicate the direction of the melody but they were still quite limited. It was Guido d’Arezzo, a famous Italian singing teacher of the 11th century, who came up with the idea of representing notes on lines. He used his new system to teach music quickly to young choristers. Within a few centuries the innovative idea was developed and adopted by virtually everyone.

Notation of music was a hugely important leap forward. It is responsible for the widespread influence of the Western musical tradition. Music that can be written down can be saved indefinitely, transcending time and place. Its spread is no longer dependent on just word of mouth.

Moreover, writing music down meant that more complex music could be invented because creativity no longer relied solely on one person’s memory. Composers could now save their musical ideas in writing and come back to them later. They could also make music for ensembles, choirs, and orchestras because musicians can read music together.

So, it is notation itself that gave rise to that special kind of musician whose job is to invent new music—that is, the composer. I hope that all of us reading this book can appreciate that when we read and write musical notation, we are connected to hundreds of years of developments by those who came before us.